Afraid of the Dark
by Gateway to Infinity
Summary: Just what is it like to die? Found out through Frieza's eyes when an attempt to clone him is unsuccessful, and learn why it never pays to play God. (this is my first fic. Hello everyone!)


Note - I'll warn you now that this fic is very strange because I consider myself a strange person. It is my first story, and I've been dying to write it for the longest time. There will be parts where the font size changes...that is done on purpose for effect.

Song credit: Dante's Prayer by Loreena McKennitt. To hear it on real audio, click [here][1]. I highly recommend you listen...it is a beautiful song that sets the mood as you read.

One thing I'd like to say is that I am not an Atheist. I am a very firm believer in God, so don't let anything that happens in this fic offend you. I intend no offense and apologize for any that is felt as you read. Send comments and anything else to [gothfrieza@yahoo.com][2] Thanks for coming, and I hope you enjoy the story.

Afraid of the Dark

Silence melts away, darkness fades and warm moisture surrounds me. My eyes open and stare through liquid, comprehending nothing that moves before them. How did I get here? Where am I? Last I remember, I was departing for planet Namek...

Faces appear, one as white as I am with yellow armor plating, one with purple skin and black armor, and another with yellow skin and orange plates. Their eyes stare at me strangely, heads shaking sadly. Why?

Around me, the fluid drains and I feel myself sinking. I can't move, can't think...I just lie there while cool hands lift my limp body onto a cold metal table and push me down a corridor. Shiver...cold...say so...must tell them...  
  
Gurgles, meaningless, then... 

"...Cuuuuhh...c-c...ooo..."

What? Did I make that nonsense sound? The yellow Icejin is looking down at me, frowning. I'm confused...and I can't speak! Nobody is telling me what is going on...

"Ah, yes, Lord Frieza's bed is ready for him. Just place him there and we'll send her in."

Frieza? Oh yes, that's me...but it's so hard to remember...to think...jumbled, twisted ideas and memories. Half-dreams, hallucinations and nightmares...reality all a jumble of strange colors and objects. I follow the yellow figure with my eyes while two sets of hands lift my useless body and lay it in the soft bed.

The yellow man peers at me and speaks with a voice garbled by time, "My name is Orenji, and if you can understand me in there, I'm overseeing your care until you terminate."

Terminate!? Does he mean I'm dying!? No!!!!

Orenji, as he calls himself, brings a lighted pen close to my face and moves it before my eyes. It is irrelevant, and I ignore the movement, my eyes still peering at his dark orange eyes. He sighs and clasps the pen in his fist, straightening to speak into his computer log, "No cognitive function due to parts of the brain failing to form completely. The cloning procedure was unsuccessful as predicted. Life functions will cease..."

I stop listening, and stare without really seeing the rays of light shining into the window near my bed. Disjointed, frightened emotions trickle across my mind. If I'm a clone, that means I failed to get the Dragon Balls. Why can't I remember dying? Who killed me? Is there nothing after death? 

No! NO!! 

...I don't want to die!

__

When the dark wood fell before me  
And all the paths were overgrown  
When the priests of pride say there is no other way  
I tilled the sorrows of stone 

Reflections of my white skin and gray carapace manifest themselves in the glass I stare through. Dr. Orenji and a technician have just placed Frieza in his own bed. He just lies there like a frightened newborn in a strange place, his eyes unseeing, and my heart starts to break. 

I can remember how I fell in love with him when we first met, and I can remember he was in his fourth form, like now. He was so shy and innocent until he came upon the Saiyajin race...and the very thing he hated finally destroyed him. It's ironic that it was done with a sword and a simple blast.  
  
Dr. Orenji is shaking his head sadly, orange armor glistening with the movement. My hand rises to rest on the glass, trembling in dreadful anticipation of what he's going to say when he comes out.  
  
"Lady Furozen, I'm afraid he isn't going to make it..."

He goes on with a bunch of medical terms that I pay no attention to. All I want is to see my beloved, to hold him again after missing him for so long. I want to be with him when he dies, even if my presence goes un-noticed. 

Frieza...he is so afraid of dying that he saved some of his own cells and downloaded all of his memories into a computer so he could be cloned if the worst happened. Not once did he pay any mind to the risks, and now he's paying for that mistake. He even went after those Dragon Balls to wish for immortality. His claim was to 'reign forever', but I know the secret reason: He fears the unknown.

Orenji continues speaking in a monotone, staring down at his digital chart without looking up, "...it may not be a pretty ending either. Anything can happen."

"_Kuso!_"I finally explode and snatch the chart from his hands, "Just let me in to see him, _baka_! I don't want him dying on me while you stall me with your medical psycho-babble!" Energy glows on my fingertip as I remind him who's boss and he quickly bows before allowing me to pass.

Finally free, I walk around the window, stride into the room and stand at the edge of the bed. Frieza doesn't even acknowledge my presence, even when I call his name, but I know some part of him still hears me. His lower lip twitches when I take his limp hand and kiss it gently, and his eyes drift shut when I lower my face to press my moist lips against his dry ones. 

Even though he doesn't react, I know he knows I'm here. He has to know...  
  
My eyes quickly scan the chart while Frieza rests. It says that half of his cerebral cortex failed to form, and a few parts of his brain formed in the wrong places. Humph, the chart even says he's unresponsive. If he's soooo unresponsive, why does he seem to see me?

__

I did not believe because I could not see  
Though you came to me in the night  
When the dawn seemed forever lost  
You showed me your love in the light of the stars

Glimmering silver shines off her head...she says her armor is gray, but I think it's silver, just like her eyes. She was yelling at Orenji a moment ago, though I haven't the faintest clue what about. Now she's sitting right beside me.

Furozen...my love...her hot temper is one of the many reasons I married her. She's funny, mother-like, beautiful and strong. Not as strong as I, but close enough...I've been slapped several times with her hand and I find it a miracle that the bruises still don't adorn my skin.

She kisses me and I cannot return it...what if she leaves? No, I don't want her to leave me again! I can't stay awake, but I don't want to sleep either. If I sleep, I'll never wake up...and I'm scared...so scared and afraid to be alone. I haven't felt this way since Papa abandoned me in space as part of my training, and I'll never forget how cold and lonely that void was.

Speaking of...where is Papa?

No, he doesn't matter, nothing does. Yes, yes he does matter! What is happening to my mind? I can't think!

Furozen's hand comes to rest on my forehead, warm and comforting against my cold skin. Though I can't focus on her, I can see her gray lips in motion as she speaks.

"I know you're afraid, and I know you can hear me. I'm not going to leave you, my love." She says while pulling the familiar blankets around my body. Her hand never releases mine in the process, though I wish I could watch her care for me.

As long as we've been married, Furozen has had a tendency to mother me. I never did mind it, probably since I never knew my real mom.

The moment I think about that, I feel the distant sensation of arms about me. I feel so helpless, just as I always feel whenever she embraces me. Close...breath in my ear...murmuring without speech. Comfort...rest...NO! I can't let myself fall asleep!

I quickly snap my eyes open before they can drift completely shut. Please...I don't want to die. I'll stop trying to kill Vegeta...I won't go after the Dragon Balls...anything! Anything to live... I want to cry and I can't even do that. I want to bury my face in Furozen's breast and sob, and I can't...

__

Cast your eyes on the ocean  
Cast your soul to the sea  
When the dark night seems endless  
Please remember me 

Frieza won't sleep, not even when I hold him. I can't put my finger on it, but something tells me he is more distressed than he looks. His eyes...they're just...I don't know...more glazed with fear than I've ever seen them. Tears are coming down his face and dripping onto my arm.

"I'll be right back, my love." I tell him, kissing his brow before lying him down so I can poke my head out the door. Orenji is nursing the scratch I gave him when I first heard that Frieza was being cloned. Sixty-two stitches, that's how much they had to sew that _baka_ up. "Hey, get something that will help Frieza sleep, will you?"

"Lady Furozen?" He looks up, "I don't think it matters. He isn't aware of anything."

This Icejin is trying my patience! Grief is quickly turning to anger as I point my finger at his face and extend my metallic fingernail like a small dagger. "Do you want me to finish slicing off that arm of yours?! GET A SEDATIVE THIS INSTANT!!!"

"Yes ma'am!" He jumps to his feet and races down the hall while another technician pushes past with a cart of armor. While the fool is gone, I put my hand over my face and let some of my tears go.

Part of me keeps thinking that he's just groggy from coming out of the life-support cylinder, and that he'll snap out of it in a few hours. But charts don't lie, and neither does medical science. Nobody has the right to play Creator and turn someone's cells into a life form. I think nature is trying to remind us of that by doing this to my love.

Ah, here comes Orenji again. I wipe the tears away quickly before he sees my weakness and shove him into the room. There is no room for patience when idiots like him walk around in this universe...I swear...I'll make it a point to kill him when this is all over. Frieza would have done the same for me if our situation was reversed.

Orenji makes a quick injection with an epidermal needle and turns his horned orange head my way, "This will put him to sleep for awhile. It won't stop his body from seizing, which will happen very soon because his oxygen intake is declining. I can give him oxygen to make him more comfortable if you like."

"Do it." I order as my feet carry me back to the side of my betrothed. Small noises are rising from his throat, though they make no sense and have no meaning. Is he trying to speak? Does he even know he's doing it?

Ugh...I'm so tired from sitting up all night. I hope my love falls asleep soon so I can rest as well.

Once again, annoying Orenji pays a visit to annoy me and bring in the requested oxygen. He doesn't say anything, he just fits the mask over Frieza's nose and mouth and high-tails it out with a swish of his yellow tail. 

Part of me feels guilty for Frieza's terminal condition by not talking him out of cloning himself. The rest of me just wants someone to blame...and Orenji is the perfect scapegoat. Killing him will be fun, later. For now, I'll just settle down with my arms around my love and watch him fall asleep.

__

Then the mountain rose before me  
By the deep well of desire  
From the fountain of forgiveness  
Beyond the ice and the fire 

Tired...eyes heavy...but I can't let myself fall asleep. I'm too frightened of never awakening. And what is on my face? I can't remember what to call it...

"Go to sleep, m'love." Furozen cooes into my ear. Her arms wrap around me, tail coiling around my legs, and I feel her body next to mine. So warm...soft...sexy...yet I don't get excited. I don't even remember what that excitement feels like.

Where am I again? My bed? Somewhere else? I can feel my memory starting to fade as I get more sleepy. Like a feather floating down from a high altitude. Ahh...keeping my eyes open is too difficult. Maybe if I fall asleep, I won't know it when I die.

A void awaits me when I let my eyes close, though after images of the windows remain on the back of my eyelids. Sounds of the outside world grow faraway and insignificant. I can hear my own heartbeat...a throbbing, weak and irregular sound. Its rhythm defies logic.

Something rumbles...my stomach? No...it's my bones. I can hear them. I can feel my own muscles starting to relax, playing their own chords in the silence. The buzz of my mind is a monotone in the background. Good...I know I'm not dead if I can still hear.

Then come my dreams...

Myself, wearing white armor with a long purple cape. Furozen, dressed in a silver kimono with a transparent hood acting as a veil. My hands lift the silver shroud hood to reveal her face to the witnesses, and hers come to rest on my cheeks. Our lips meet to seal the vows. Her gray eyes glisten with love, love just for me. My own eyes reflect that love. Two pale pairs of hands interlock fingers.

I'm seeing our wedding...I could dream of it forever...

My body...I can't feel it anymore! I can't move! This realization shatters the dream and I awaken, panting behind the plastic covering my mouth.

__

Cast your eyes on the ocean  
Cast your soul to the sea  
When the dark night seems endless  
Please remember me

Asleep, he's so angelic, like an angel. My fingertips trace the curve of his forehead and nose. I could easily trace a rose the same way and never tell the difference. Frieza's forehead creases as my touch passes over it. White eyelids lift to reveal glazed eyes. Plastic fogs and un-fogs, filling with foam. Hungry panting stabs the silence. Disjointed movements rip through stillness, then jerk to a halt, stiff as a board.

My God...he's seizing! Is this the end?

Though convulsions aren't present, this seizure still frightens me. I know it has to frighten him.

Moments pass before Frieza's body relaxes. Sweat layers his pale flesh, droplets of dew. Unblinking eyes glisten sightlessly. Black lips gape in panic behind the mask.

I remove the mask and wipe it clean. Tears begin to flow as I start to clean his face like a mother cleaning a messy child up. It hurts...this person is not my husband anymore...yet he is. Some part of him has to still be alive in there. A body can't live with no mind!

His eyes remain open despite the stupor that half-closes them. My hand comes to rest on his forehead so I can turn his gaze into mine, and I stare into his eyes. They are unfocused, and I begin to cry more when I see them. "Oh Frieza, my love...can you see me? Are you aware?"

Nothing. I can't tell if he hears me or not. He has to hear me...

"Frieza..."

When I take his hand again, I realize how cold it is. His fingers are getting gray and dusky looking with a hint of purple. My eyes return to his face and I press my lips to his. They too have become like ice.  
  
His eyes flicker a little, just a little, tears pouring out of them. Fear is broadcasting through them as clearly as a banner. Some part of his mind is still there, enough to feel emotion.

"Love," I breathe, lips lowering beside his ear. Cheek pressing against his temple, I just hold him to my chest like an infant fresh out of the womb, "Don't hold on to something you can't have. Lingering will only prolong your fear..."

__

Though we share this humble path, alone  
How fragile is the heart  
Oh give these clay feet wings to fly  
To touch the face of the stars 

"...you will still exist. I promise you will not cease, Frieza, my betrothed."

Furozen...speak to me more, my love. I love to hear your voice in my ear this way, the only comfort I have. But something by the wall is dragging my attention away from her words. Someone stands in the shadows, tall and muscular. 

Papa!

But how did he get here? Where has he been all this time? Now he's leaving! Papa! Where are you going?! WHERE!!! 

He left me...

It's so dark. Has it always been this dark? No, no it hasn't! Oh please no!

My own moans work their way into my consciousness, mixed with Furozen's soft murmurs. Soft skin strokes my brow and silky lips press themselves to mine, silencing my cries. Hot tears drip onto my cheeks from her eyes as they stare into mine and wait for the response I cannot give.

A flash of color shocks my senses. There's another, this one green! White! Red! Purple! Rainbows dance across my sight in different shapes and sizes. Beams of light in colors I've never seen shoot past me. I don't even notice that darkness has befallen me, for all I see are these delightful colors...

__

Breathe life into this feeble heart  
Lift this mortal veil of fear  
Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears  
We'll rise above these earthly cares 

Tears still flow freely while my lips press themselves to his soft skin. His breathing is deteriorating, sounding labored and uneven. Glazed ruby eyes of glass stare at nothing, seeing nothing more. Pale fingertips like ice have turned pale purple before my eyes. Black doors of breath have lost color, giving way to sickly purple-gray.

"You've been a good husband to me, Frieza. A wonderful companion and a true friend." I say my goodbye while I still can. People say hearing goes last, but no sense taking risks. "I'll never love another as I have loved you, and I shall never look upon another as I looked upon you. Do not concern yourself with me any further." I have to stop, sobs lumping in my throat like a slow heat choking off my breath, "Let yourself go everywhere. Just melt from the flesh that binds you and free yourself."

I don't want to let go. I don't want to say goodbye and watch him fade in my arms. I don't want to lose him. But I must. He could linger for years like this and that isn't fair.

Frieza? Do you even realize you're starting to die in my arms? Are you still frightened of disappearing forever? Can you still hear my voice speaking whispers into your ears?

How I wish you could hold me back one more time...  
  
Wishing that makes my voice crack, "I love you..."

If he were able, he would have said, 'I love you too, Rose.' Rose was his nickname for me, and he was the only person I would allow to call me that. Then he would smile that captivating smile and kiss me...he always kissed me after being told or telling me 'I love you'. On the cheek, ear, shoulder, hand, lips, tail...whatever was within reach at the very moment.

Now I lean down, slip the plastic mask off his face and kiss his brow, chin, cheek and lips. Perhaps to remind him that I never forgot his kisses...

This pain...it isn't physical, yet just as real, if not worse. I can't put my hand over it and cradle it until the smarting sensation dies off. All I can do is hold him, cradle him and keep talking.

"You're not alone, my love...I'm holding you right now. My arms will keep you safe, I promise." Tears blur my sight and form hot trails on my cheeks.

He is breathing through an open mouth, the sounds weak, little more than raspy gurgles. I leave his side for just a moment to grab a bowl of water and a sponge. My gentle hand turns his head towards me. The other moistens the sponge, brushes it over his lips and swabs his dry mouth out. His lips move and I watch him swallow. For a moment he seems conscious. Just my imagination...as soon as I stop, so does he.

I spend a few moments massaging his hands to keep them warm…he loves having his hands touched and massaged, almost as much as his feet. Ah, they are such pretty little white hands…piano hands, as humans would say.

My arms return around him, and I listen to the breaths flowing in and out. I stroke his brow and speak softly, "I'm here again, Frieza. Just you and me..."

Of course, Orenji has to ruin the moment. He pokes his nose into the room and waddles to the bed to take Frieza's vitals. Not once does he bother to tell my husband what is being done to him...treating him as if he were a vegetable. He may be, but let him have dignity!

"What do you want now?" I snap, shooting a glare that could melt bricks. "I already know his vitals are weakening!"

"Sorry, Lady Furozen. I have to check up on him so I can log down the time he - "

"I will alert you when that occurs!" I hiss indignantly. "But I don't want to have it happen while I'm staring at your worthless hide! Now leave!"

"Yes'm." Orenji writes quickly on his chart and hurries out in fear. Sometimes I wonder why people with such puny power levels are allowed to live. I guess it is because of their high intelligence...but then again...that also comes with a lot of stupidity mixed in.

My anger melts as I look down at my betrothed's face, and I even turn his head so I can see into his eyes. They look so dreamy and far away, but they aren't seeing me anymore. I don't know what they see, but it can't be nothing.

Curling up beside him with arm wrapped around his shoulders and my free hand on his hip, I kiss his lips once more and lay my head on his muscular chest. It is as if we have just made love and are lying in the afterglow.

Remembering that we'll never make love again brings a sudden rush of tears and sobs. So I let everything go: the pain, grief, anger and sorrow...I cry it all out on Frieza's chest as I hold him.

He is barely breathing now. Just little twitches of his lips and chest. His eyelids have taken on a slightly grayish-purple tone. Any second now, he's going to be gone from me forever. My love...my Frieza...

I hear him straining to breathe. He's taking several sips of air to fill his lungs before exhaling. Another gasp. Silence...agonizing silence. I hear another gasp. It's a pattern of agony, torture and fear.

Grunt. 

Sigh.  
  
Inhale.

"Frieza...my love, stop fighting it now. Face your fear! You won't be doing it alone, I promise..."

Gasp.

Wheeze.

Exhale.

My tears have yet to stop, and I don't think they ever will. "...I love you...I always will..."

...silence...

Inhale...

Sigh.  
  
...silence...

Gasp.

...silence...

...silence...

...exhale...

...silence... 

...gasp...

...sigh...

...silence...  
  
...silence...  
  
...silence...  
  
A last twitch forces his chest up before he exhales and stops breathing. Now the most difficult moments will come. His heart has yet to stop, and not even I know what he will experience when his brain finally dies.

"Frieza..." I sob and clutch him tightly as I listen to his heart. I even turn my head and kiss the throbbing spot on his chest, as if kissing the love we shared goodbye. Never forgotten, but never to be again. Part of me is dying with him right now.

__

Cast your eyes on the ocean  
Cast your soul to the sea  
When the dark night seems endless  
Please remember me   
_Please remember me  
Please remember me..._

It's so hard to breathe, like air is heavier than water and I can't drag it into my lungs. Furozen is holding me. I know this because a warmth is beside me and nobody else would touch me this way. Pain laces around her voice like a strangling cord when she speaks to me. I wish I could comfort her...

Scared...so scared...I can't let go now!

Breathe...no, it's too hard and tiring. Chest too heavy rise and fall. Body too tired to attempt.

...what is breathing again?

I've stopped forcing myself to take in air, and it feels so natural. I've already forgotten how it feels to breathe. Furozen cries harder when I give up my attempts. I can understand that...I'm still afraid. The kind of afraid that leaves a person paralyzed and wetting themselves.

What is happening to me? Is this a dream?

Wait...what is that sound?

THUMP-THUMP!

My heartbeat.

THUMP-THUMP!

Thump-thump!

...thump...thump...

......thump......thump...

.........thump.........thump...

...

......thump.....

...echo...

...echo...  
  
...silence...

No! My heart just stopped! I can't hear it anymore!

In that same moment I feel my mind going back in time to random moments. I don't know why this is happening, nor do I care anymore.

Flash!

As clear as day, I see the time when Kooler got so drunk he fell asleep in my bed. The scent of the liquor and puke on his breath still permeates my nose to this day, just as much as the sound of horrendous snoring.

Flash!

I recall the day I met Furozen; I was en route to my ship when I saw a flash of gray. Then I saw her eyes, the eyes that pierced my soul the moment I looked into them. I had walked over and kissed her right there. She slapped me so hard I was on my back and a handprint marked my face for weeks.

Flash! Flash!  
  
Moments from my childhood emerge: The time I tied my favorite stuffed animal to my Papa's tail with a green ribbon. He didn't know it until his men laughed themselves silly and pointed it out. Then I see myself as a toddler, riding his tail while he walked around the castle where we lived.

Flash!

Finally the images all fade to random colors that zoom past me. Sinking sensations bring me to the realization that something is happening to me. But what? I don't know anymore...I don't remember where I am, where I came from or who is with me, even as her voice continues murmuring into my ear.

Colored patterns become multicolored grids, the grids like walls that zoom by. Eyes staring straight ahead, I watch the horizon switch between vertical and horizontal. More insane and illogical by the second, faster and faster.

Some colors are fading out now. Reds, golds, whites and oranges with hints of blue are all that remain. Grids still shooting past me, colors melting and blending together. In front of me, the colors have become an expanding mass that stretches as far as I can see. More colors fade out of my memory, and they keep fading until white is all I see. A distant star in a sea of blackness. Then...

Flash! WHOOSH!

A supernova blast goes off right in my face! Who is doing all of this to me? Am I still dreaming?

Light fading slowly, getting darker. I don't know whether to be afraid of the dark or not.

****

Dimmer.

The voice murmuring to me grows further away.

****

Dimmer...

I'm so frightened...I don't want to stop existing!

****

...dimmer...dark gray with light still shining ahead...

Please...I'll do anything. Whoever controls life and death! Please! Please don't take me now!

****

...dimmer...

...What?...

Floating again...drifting...silence...I don't remember who I am. It just slipped my mind. What is happening to me again? 

****

...dimmer...just a flickering white ember in the blackness...

How long have I been here?  
  
**...dimmer...flicker fading...**

Afraid...still want to exist...

****

...dimmer...barely see that flickering white glow...

I still see... I see...Furozen! I see Papa! Kooler...Zarbon...Dodoria and the Ginyu Force. Arms still hold me close...are they Furozen's? Yes!

Sensations all fading, but I still see.

****

...flicker...

...I still see...

****

...dimmer...

...I still hear...

****

...fade...

...I still exist...

****

...ember flickers in the distance...  
  
...still...

****

...light slowly flickers out...

…...exist……

****

...OBLIVION...

__

…please remember me...  
...please remember me...  
...please remember me...  
...please remember me...

My eyes fly open when something trembles, my hand staying on his chest as I lift my head just enough to gaze down at his face. His heart weakens beneath my palm, fighting the urge to stop. 

Weaker, each beat fainter than the one before.

I can barely feel it…

Throb-throb!

...throb...throb...

......throb......throb...

.........flutter.........flutter...

...

......twitch.....

…

Stillness…

His limp body is devoid of warmth, and his mouth lifelessly falls open as I clutch him to my chest. My trembling fingertips trace his lips for the last time, gently closing them while his distant wide-open eyes fade like dying embers. 

Dull garnet orbs are all that remain of those once bright ruby spheres. 

No sound interrupts the silence hovering about us as the only man I ever loved dies in my arms. 

No more fear now, Frieza…just float away…let the darkness carry you…

This pain…  
  
I'll never hear his voice again. He will never sneak up and wrap his tail around my waist. Coy hands will never caress me in odd places at odd moments. Red eyes will never gaze at me to mirror my feelings.

No heartbeat throbs in his chest. No breath passes between his lips. It seems so unreal…I just stare down at his eyes…so faraway…like a one way mirror, or a house with all the lights off inside.

Empty…

It takes all the control I can muster to reach down and gently slide my husband's glazed, dilated eyes shut. His eyelids have turned a grayish-purple color to match his lips, toes, tail-tip and fingers. Just a shell now…an empty shell…or a finished sculpture lying out to dry…no longer needing to be molded and changed…

Gone forever…

"Frieza..." Sobs choke me, my hand pressing against his face as I cover his mouth with my own for what may be the last time. He looks so peaceful, as if asleep, but dreadfully still. "My love...I'll miss you with all my heart and soul. Oh, my love...my soul..." I rock him helplessly, afraid to let go, unable to speak anymore.

A flicker of light catches my eye. The stars! Oh...the sky is so clear tonight.

There is a new star in the nebula that spills across the night-time horizon. A star for my beloved...

"Lady Furozen..." Orenji cuts into my thoughts.

"He's dead. I know." I whisper, holding Frieza closer in a protective embrace. What I'm protecting him from, I don't really know at the moment. Until Orenji comes closer, that is, and I speak up again in a choked tone, "What do you want!?"

"To gather more cells so I can attempt to clone him again. Don't you want him back?"

That's it! He has gone too far!

"Listen here you _bakayaro!_" I scream in his face, "What right do you have to play God and create life in ways that it wasn't meant to be created!? Huh!?" My fist grows warm as the energy in my body rises, "Consider this a favor to our kind!" I open my hand, point the palm at the center of Orenji's chest and let loose with all my rage and pain.

Orenji disappears in a golden ball of light. There isn't enough of him left to feed an ameba. Good, one less jerk to worry about.

Placing Frieza gently back in bed, I tuck him in and kiss his brow as if he were only asleep and going to wake up in the morning. My mind clings to that foolish hope as I leave the room and head into the lab where this pain began.

The same blast that killed Orenji is released again, this time on the life-support cylinder. I feel myself smile as it explodes in a shower of glass, water and metal.

Now nobody can ever hurt my Frieza again...

...now he can have peace...

...Goodbye, my love...

__

...please remember me...

   [1]: http://ifiji.com/yumbo/sound/ram/dantesprayer.ram
   [2]: mailto:gothfrieza@yahoo.com



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